


WWBD (What Would Britney Do)

by freefall



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Self-Esteem Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-26
Updated: 2017-05-26
Packaged: 2018-11-05 05:47:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11007243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/freefall/pseuds/freefall
Summary: “Yeah, yeah, I got it, Zimms, you don’t want to see me.” Kent pushed back from the bar, mouth twisting bitterly, and abandoned his drink. “I’m not stalking you, promise.” He made a split-second, impulsive decision. “I’m here to see him.” He reached out and pulled in the nearest Falconer, not even looking at his face.“You’re here to see…Tater?” Jack asked incredulously.In the history of the world, people have probably done crazier things to save face in front of an ex. Probably.





	WWBD (What Would Britney Do)

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to all the people who were waiting patiently for this fic, and who thought to check in. I really appreciate it.
> 
> Thank you [fahbee](http://fahbee.tumblr.com/) for the awesome beta!

“Kent?”

 

Kent looked up from his cocktail to see Jack staring at him with a frown on his face, various Falconers arrayed behind him, looking on curiously.  _Oh shit._ He had been successfully avoiding Jack for months, and now he went and picked the same goddamn bar after the game. Is this the universe telling him to stop drinking? Fuck you, universe.

 

“Jack,” he said evenly. There was an absolutely zero percent chance that Jack would believe him that this was just a coincidence, especially because none of his teammates were here too. Sue him for wanting to have a quiet night. Next time he’d just go with the guys to the shitty club.

 

“Why are you here?” Jack said forbiddingly. “I thought I made myself clear—”

 

“Yeah, yeah, I got it, Zimms, you don’t want to see me.” Kent abandoned his drink and pushed back from the bar, mouth twisting bitterly. “I’m not stalking you, promise.” He made a split-second, impulsive decision. “I’m here to see him.” He reached out and pulled in the nearest Falconer, not even looking at his face.

 

“You’re here to see…Tater?” Jack asked incredulously.

 

Kent looked up…and up. Sure enough, the one Falconer he happened to grab out of the whole shitty team was Alexei Mashkov, the one who probably hated him the most. Mashkov was stiff as a board, staring down at where Kent’s fingers were grasping his arm. Kent had to force himself to not let go like he was on fire.

 

What would Britney do in this situation? Kent’s not-so-secret idol, Britney Spears, was everything Kent strived to be— confident, bold resilient. Britney never let haters get her down. She would brazen through like the boss-ass bitch that she is. There was only one thing for Kent to do.

 

“Yep,” he said, putting on his best Parson trademarked smirk. He wrapped both of his arms around Mashkov’s bicep and leaned in. “Sorry, Jack, I don’t have time for you today. We’re going to get dinner.” He just prayed that Mashkov would be slow enough to react that he could get out of there without causing a scene or humiliating himself entirely.

 

He could feel Mashkov trying to wiggle his arm away, and held on to both Mashkov’s arm and his smile tenaciously. Mashkov was stronger, though, and managed to escape. Kent braced for a punch, but instead Mashkov…put his arm…around…Kent?? What the hell?

 

“Yes,” Mashkov said almost as stiffly as the arm around Kent’s waist. “We have plans.”

 

“What, are you guys dating or something?” asked one of the other Falconers, some rookie whose name Kent couldn’t remember.  

 

Kent froze. Jack froze. Alexei froze. Time froze.

 

By some miracle, Alexei didn’t immediately refute it or toss Kent over the bar counter, so Kent decided to keep on bluffing. It was working for him so far, right? “Wouldn’t you like to know?” Kent said with a sleazy wink. The rookie choked, and blushed.

 

Everyone else was still gaping silently.

 

“We go now, eat dinner. Bye, Zimmboni,” Alexei said. He turned Kent and started firmly steering him out of the bar.

 

Oh shit. He might be out of the frying pan and into the fire here. Still, though, there was clearly only one way to handle this situation. He threw his cockiest, smuggest grin over his shoulder. “Bye, Jack! Maybe we can catch up next time!”

 

\---

 

Alexei was more than a little confused.  _Kent Parson_ hadwrapped himself around him in a bar and insinuated to all of Alexei’s teammates that they were dating.

 

This was suspiciously like some of the daydreams he had shamefully often after the 2012 All-Star Game.

 

Alexei had been new both to America and to the NHL, hadn’t spoken that much English, and was just honored to be there at all, really. Kent was only a year older, but had been playing in the NHL since he was eighteen, and had already won a Stanley Cup. Alexei was a little awestruck.

 

But Kent had sat himself down next to Alexei the first night, and asked him questions about Russia and Providence and how he was liking NHL hockey. He genuinely seemed to be listening to his answers, as halting and as thickly accented as they were. And then Kent got on the ice the next day and blew them all out of the water on the accuracy challenge, and the sight of his grinning face, blonde hair sticking up like a dandelion without his helmet…well. Alexei was only human.

 

After that weekend, they never really talked again, apart from some sometimes less-than-friendly meetings on the ice, but he kept thinking about that interaction for months.

 

So yeah, he had no idea what was going on right now, but he wasn’t an  _idiot._ He owed it to his younger self to not let this chance slip through his fingers.

He took Kent to a diner that he liked and that was close by. Kent was quiet for the whole walk, shooting little glances at him. Even though Alexei wasn’t brave enough to keep his arm around Kent, he still couldn’t help but be warmed by the glances.

 

They settled into a booth that the grey-haired hostess showed them to, and Kent looked at the menu she handed him like it was a foreign object.

 

“Um… you like milkshakes?” Alexei asked awkwardly.

 

Kent looked at him like he was crazy for a beat, then laughed, tossing his menu down. “Yeah, what the hell. I love milkshakes.”

 

They ordered, Alexei getting chocolate and Kent strawberry. For a while, the only noise was the awkward sound of sucking through straws, before Alexei finally broke the silence.

 

“Um. Why…?” was all he got out before Kent flushed and put his drink down, interrupting.

 

“Yeah, sorry man, I just grabbed the nearest person. It was nothing personal or anything.”

 

Alexei did his best to fight the sudden disappointment. “Oh.”

 

“Yeah, it was just, I ran into Jack, you know? And we have history, and I just couldn’t…yeah. I had to get out of there. Sorry for dragging you into this mess.”

 

Kent looked embarrassed and kind of miserable, actually, fiddling with his straw and avoiding eye contact. Alexei didn’t want to push, but he was still pretty confused.

 

“You want everyone think we dating?”

 

“Ugh, that just kind of happened. Sorry. Jack just…yeah.”

 

“What happen with you and Zimmboni?” Alexei asked gently. “You were together?”

 

Kent looked up sharply. “You know—”

 

“That Zimmboni likes guys? Yes, he told us.”

 

Kent’s shoulders slumped. “Yeah, okay. Yeah, we used to date. Or, I thought we were dating. Who knows what the hell he thought. Apparently, he never thought about me at all.” Kent’s mouth twisted bitterly, and then he took a deep breath. “Sorry. Just, Jack and I have a lot of stuff in our past and most of it’s not good. He wants me to leave him alone and I’m genuinely trying, I really am. When you guys walked in on me on the bar I kind of just grabbed any excuse to show that I wasn’t there to see him and to get out of there.”

 

Alexei’s heart was hurting. Jack was his friend, and he was sure he had his reasons, but Kent just looked so defeated, sitting there in the grainy diner light and letting his milkshake melt without even noticing the drops dripping off the straw and staining his shirt cuff pink. “You want him believe you are over him?”

 

“Yeah, exactly.” Kent sighed.

 

This was probably crazy, but Alexei made a split-second decision. Kent was nice, and pretty, and needed help. He couldn’t just do nothing, right? Right. “Okay. We can date.”

 

Kent seemed to choke on nothing, meeting Alexei’s eyes for the first time since he started telling his story.

 

“What?”

 

“You want Zimmboni believe you are over him, yes? So, need a boyfriend. Everyone already think is me, so will be easy.” He nudged Kent’s milkshake closer to him. “Drink your milkshake, is melting.”

 

“Um.” Kent seemed to automatically take a sip before rebooting. “Wait, what? You’d really pretend to be my boyfriend?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Why? What’s in it for you? And wait, are you even into dudes?”

 

Alexei raised his eyebrows. “Maybe I’m just want to help nice person. But yes, am into guys. And girls. Both. Team does not know yet, because why tell when I’m not date somebody? But this will be good way of telling.”

 

Kent took a fortifying gulp of his milkshake. “This is crazy,” he muttered, seemingly to himself. “Are you really sure about this?”

 

“Yes. Give me your phone.” Alexei took Kent’s phone and typed in his number, sending a text to himself. Then he followed his Instagram and Twitter. “You not follow me already?” Alexei tsked, shaking his head. “I follow you. Rude.”

 

“Um.” Kent just blinked.

 

“Here, we need to take selfie now, yes? This is what boyfriends do.” Alexei got up and squished himself into the booth next to Kent. He wanted to put his arm around Kent, but he needed to be careful to remember that they weren’t actually dating. He shouldn’t take advantage of the situation, so he just settled on brushing shoulders with Kent and grinning into the camera. “I know, because is always how Seguin and Benn are. Just need to act like them.” Kent choked, and then burst into laughter.

 

Alexei snapped the picture. In it Kent was laughing, eyes squinted and freckled nose scrunched up, still holding the milkshake. Alexei was grinning at the camera smugly. Alexei posted it to his Instagram, satisfied, with the caption “fun night with fun person )))”.

 

“Oh man, that was hilarious. They are weirdly into each other for two straight dudes though.”

Alexei just shrugged, catching his tongue in the tip of his teeth slyly. “Who knows?”

 

Kent snorted endearingly, and then grabbed Alexei’s phone. “Oh, dude, that’s a good picture.” He was silent for a moment. “This could really work, huh? Are we really doing this?”

 

“What, too scared?”

 

Kent grinned and leaned back, smiling cockily. “Hey man, I’m from Vegas, remember? I’m a gambling man. Let’s fucking do this.”

 

Alexei instinctively grinned back, feeling the adrenalin of rushing down the ice on a perfect breakaway. “Yes, let’s do this.”

 

\---

 

“This” felt easier said than done when Alexei walked into the locker room the next morning and was met with dead silence.

 

His shoulders stiffened and rose towards his ears, but he kept his head up as he sat in his stall and started pulling on his gear. He honestly didn’t think he had to worry about this; everyone seemed fine with Jack and Bitty—

 

“So. Um, how was your date?”

 

Alexei looked up to see Marty standing in front of his stall, looking mildly uncomfortable, but clearly determined.

 

“Good, thanks. You see on Instagram?”

 

“Yeah, milkshakes huh? Cute. So, _euh_. You and Parson, huh?”

 

“Is problem?” Alexei asked shortly, looking around the room.

 

“NO!”

 

“Nah, man—”

 

“Definitely not—”

 

A chorus of voices chimed in with denials in various degrees of enthusiasm and coherency, and Alexei relaxed. This was his team, after all. They were awkward losers, but they had his back.

 

“We were just surprised, that’s all,” Marty said. “You know, it being Parson.”

 

Alexei’s eyes narrowed. Yeah, the Aces were kind of their rivals, but still. This was his former long-term crush they were talking about.

 

“Why? Best hockey, fastest in league, two Stanley cups, very nice, very pretty. You have problem with my boyfriend?” The “boyfriend” part rolled off his tongue with barely a stutter. Alexei ignored the tiny thrill the word gave him.

 

“No, man.” Marty raised his hands in defense. “We just didn’t know you guys knew each other, that’s all. But still, it’s good! We’re glad you’re trusting us, and are behind you one hundred percent. Invite him out with us next time, eh?”

 

For the first time, Alexei noticed Jack standing frozen behind Marty, jaw dropped. He must have just come in; he was still holding his bag. Alexei met his eyes firmly. Jack’s jaw tensed, but he just lowered his eyes, gave Alexei a curt nod, and turned toward his stall.

 

Alexei took out his phone.  _Think it worked! )))_ he texted Kent.

 

He got a reply almost immediately.

 

_LMAO really? this is totally crazy you know that right_

_…wtf are those )))) things_

_Smiles )))))))))))))))_ he texted back

_lol okay_

_cute_

 

))))))))))))))))))))) he sent back, text smiles not enough to match the stupid grin on his face.

 

\---

 

This was probably the weirdest thing that had ever happened to Kent ever, but like. Everyone really thought he and  _Alexei Mashkov_ were dating??

 

He didn’t even have to tell people; gossip apparently ran through the NHL like beer through a frat house. Troy was buddies with Sebastien St. Martin from Worlds, and the rest was history. By the time they got back to Vegas, everyone on the team knew that he and Mashkov were “dating.” And, well, it probably didn’t help that Alexei kept texting him constantly.

 

His phone buzzed and he looked down to see that, sure enough, it was Alexei again, sending him a picture of his breakfast, a really nice looking spread of whole wheat pancakes with strawberries.  _Nice, I’m jealous,_ he texted back, smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. There was a sudden lull in conversation, and he looked up to see the entire team paused in the middle of pulling on their gear and smiling at him misty-eyed like a bunch of proud mothers. They did this every fucking time he texted Alexei, what the fuck.

 

They were clearly so happy to see him dating somebody and not like, emotionally broken, that Kent wasn’t sure if he should feel grateful or insulted. Especially because, you know, he wasn’t actually dating anybody. And, to be honest, the emotionally-broken thing was still up in the air.

 

When he looked up, they quickly ducked their heads back down and continued getting dressed, Troy loudly and unsubtly beginning to chirp Ryan about his scraggly attempt at a mustache. Kent rolled his eyes, but kept smiling. He had a good team.

 

Kent’s phone buzzed again. He looked down to see that Alexei had sent,  _Wish you were here? ))_

 

Kent snorted, and texted back,  _No, can’t eat that sort of thing, too busy training to kick your guys asses when you come next week_

_(((((((_

_Skype tonite?_

Kent smiled.  _Yes! 8?_

_Yes, see you soon ))_

 

So, skyping is a thing they’ve been doing lately, too. It started with Kent sending snapchat videos of Kit being perfect, and then next thing he knew Alexei wanted to meet her, so, yeah. Skype seemed the logical conclusion. And now Alexei insisted on saying hi to her at least every few days, because otherwise “she’ll miss him.” Kent seriously doubted that Kit cared one way or the other, but he didn’t want to crush Alexei’s dreams.

 

When the call connected that night, Alexei didn’t even say hi to Kent before he started cooing and waggling his fingers at Kit sitting on his lap.

 

“Wow, I feel loved,” Kent said.

 

“Sorry! Hello  _kotyonok_.”

 

“ _Kotyonok_? What the hell is that?”

 

“Kitten. Is cute, yes? If you are dating Russian then must have Russian nickname. Is only proper.”

 

“Kitten?” Kent mouthed to himself incredulously. “Dude, you are getting way too into this.”

 

“Verisimilitude,  _kotyonok_! You must call me Alyosha, too.”

 

“Okay, if you know the word ‘verisimilitude,’ then you definitely know English a lot better than you say you do. Tell me the truth, are you just fucking with everybody?”

 

“I have no idea what you talking about,  _kotyonok_. What does ‘fucking with’ mean? I not know that term.”

 

“Oh ha ha, asshole. You are so full of shit. Or did you steal your goalie’s regency romances again? Seriously, don’t read those; you’ll pick up fucking weird vocabulary.”

 

“What weird vocabulary? ‘Throbbing member?’ ‘Turgid shaft’? These just normal words, yes?”

 

“Oh my god, Alexei, seriously—”

 

“Alyosha!”

 

“Al—Alyosha, I can’t even pronounce that—”

 

Just then, Kent was interrupted by his cellphone going off. He fumbled to turn it off, before seeing that it was his mom.

 

“Hold on for a sec, okay, Alexei? It’s my mom.”

 

“Alyosha!”

 

“Alyosha, okay! Jeez.”  Laughing, Kent picked up his phone and wandered away toward the kitchen, depositing Kit off his lap and onto the table in front of his laptop on his way. Alexei and Kit could entertain each other; Kent knew Alexei could croon Russian nonsense at Kit for hours, if you let him.

 

“Hey Mom, what’s up?”

 

“Kent, baby, how are you? I haven’t heard from you in ages! Are you still alive?”

 

“Yes, Mom, I’m still alive. And it’s been like a week. Also, I’m pretty sure you would know if I had died. It would probably be on the news or something.”

 

“Oh, that’s right, you’re such a bigshot. It would make the national news, of course, my mistake.”

 

“Hey, aren’t you supposed to be impressed by me? I’m your son!”

 

“And that’s exactly why I’m not impressed by you. I still remember when you dyed the neighbor’s poodle orange with food coloring, remember.”

 

“Mooom, when will you let that go, I was eight!”

 

“Tell that to the Matthews, they still bring it up every time I see them. Kent, what’s that noise in the background? Is someone there?”

 

Kent had wandered back into the living room by this point, and Alexei’s Russian mumbling to Kit could clearly be heard.

 

“Um, no, that’s just my friend. We’re skyping.”

 

“You’re skyping someone? Who? Is it Jack?”

 

“NO, Mom! It’s Alexei Mashkov, of the Providence Falconers?”

 

Alexei stopped talking when he heard his name, and looked up. Kent rolled his eyes at him, and mouthed “moms.” Alexei huffed out a laugh.

 

“Who’s that? You never skype people, you barely even text them.”

 

“Well, I skype him, Mom, he likes to say hi to Kit.”

 

“You skype him, plural? How often do you skype this boy?”

 

“Like three times a week? Seriously, mom, what’s the big deal?”

 

There was a long silence on the other end. “Kent, you know you can trust me with anything. I know that kids sometimes don’t want to tell their parents things because they think they won’t understand, but you can tell me anything, and I would hope that you know that.”

 

“I…? Um, yes? Mom, what—”

 

“Kent, why didn’t you tell me that you were dating anyone?”

 

Kent choked, panicking.

 

“Um, it’s new?” He immediately slapped himself on the forehead in despair. Why didn’t he just deny it?! He was starting to lose track of who he was lying to.

 

“So you ARE dating him, I knew it! Switch to Facetime! I want to see him.”

 

“Mom, really, you don’t need to—”

 

“Switch to Facetime, Kent.”

 

Kent meekly obeyed and held his phone out to the computer, screen first. He mouthed “sorry” to Alexei helplessly, who just laughed.

 

“Hello, Mrs. Parson,” Alexei said.

 

“Well!  _Hello.”_   Kent could practically hear his mother raising her eyebrows. Alexei was wearing a grey Henley that stretched over his muscles, his hair was still wet from the shower, and yeah, okay, Kent could admit that he was an attractive man. Kent may be irrevocably fucked up over Zimms, sure, but he wasn’t  _dead._

“So, you’re dating my son, huh?”

 

Alexei darted his eyes up to Kent, who just shrugged helplessly, then said, “Yes, Mrs. Parson. Nice to meet you.”

 

“Oh, call me Tracey. So, you play hockey, too? Kent has always had a type.”

 

Kent raised his eyes to the ceiling in despair and futilely tried not to blotch a furious red.

 

Alexei was badly stifling a laugh. “Yes,  _kotyonok_  likes hockey very much, so we should not be surprised.”  

 

“’ _Kotyonok_ ’?”

 

“Is Russian nickname! He calls me Alyosha!”

 

Kent just shook his head, smiling despite himself. Alexei was even determined to bring his  _mom_ into it to get what he wanted. Fucking shameless.

 

“Oh, that’s so sweet! Wow, that’s just adorable.” Kent’s mom was a smart woman, but she seemed completely taken in. “Kenny’s invited you to the family reunion, right? It’s next month. If you don’t have any games, you should come so I can meet you in person instead over two screens, this is kind of ridiculous. And you can meet the rest of the family, too.”

 

“Uh…” Alexei—okay, fucking fine,  _Alyosha_ —hesitated and looked up at Kent. Kent just shrugged. There was no stopping his mom; it was best to just give in. “Okay, I’m look forward to it.”

 

“Good! Now I’ll leave you two boys alone. Sorry for interrupting, and it’s very nice to meet you, Alexei!”

 

“Bye, Tracey, nice to meet you.”

 

“Bye, Mom, love you.”

 

After she hung up they looked at each other for a beat, then Alyosha broke, howling in laughter. “You have type, huh?”

 

“Fuck you, man.” Kent did his best to glare, but couldn’t help laughing too.

 

“Sorry,” Kent finally said. “You really don’t have to go. I think it’s actually on your bye week, but we can tell her you have a prior commitment or something.”

 

“No, I want to go! Want to see all the Parson family, see if they like you.”

 

“Ricoletti family, actually, they’re my mom’s side. But yeah, you think  _I’m_ extra. It’s a wild time.”

 

“I will bring the good vodka.”

 

Kent laughed. “You’ll fit right in.”

 

\---

 

As their bus pulled up to the Aces’ rink, Alexei practically buzzed with excitement. Next to him sat Thirdy, who elbowed Alexei and shot him a sly look. “Hot date tonight, eh, Tater? Just don’t go easy on your boy during the game, right?”

 

“Ha! Of course not, he never go easy on me either.”

 

“So, are you two going to get dinner tonight after the game?”

 

“No, probably just go to his place. I’m want to see Kit.”

 

Mikey hooted from the row of seats behind them. “Tater’s getting  _laid tonight,_ boys.” The rest of the bus started up with howls and cheers. Only Jack was conspicuously silent, mouth pressed in a tight line and staring down at his phone.

 

“You all just jealous!” Alexei shouted over them, trying to ignore how hot the tips of his ears felt. Marty laughed and scrubbed his hand over Alexei’s hair.

 

“Aw, you guys are so cute. Young love, eh?”

 

Alexei face washed him. The guys were full of shit, but still. Alexei was really excited to see Kent tonight.

 

Alexei was one of the last off the bus, tapping at his phone enthusiastically. Kent was chirping him about the game tonight, although by this point it was less chirping and more a battling series of increasingly terrible cat-puns. It was amazing.

 

_Be careful not get scratched,_ he had just typed, laughing under his breath, when he was interrupted by a pointed cough from in front of him. Alexei looked up. Instead of the retreating back of Guy in front of him, he was met by Jeff Troy, first line center of the Aces. Alexei stopped abruptly.

 

Troy stepped forward, shifting uncomfortably but expression determined. “Mashkov. Do you have a minute?”

 

Alexei slipped his phone back into his pocket. He lifted his chin and squared his shoulders. “What you want?”

 

“It’s about Parse,” Troy said. Alexei wasn’t surprised about that.

 

“What about Kent?” he asked. If Troy was going to warn him off, he’d have a fight on his hands.

 

“He— well. He’s really happy, you know that?”

 

Alexei froze. He wasn’t expecting that. “What?”

 

“You know, he doesn’t really date. Like ever. So we were all like ‘what the hell?’ when we heard he was dating you. I couldn’t even believe it at first! Like, how do you guys even know each other?” He chuckled. “But he’s always looking down at his phone and smiling, it’s sickeningly adorable. He’s really happy now, I can tell. So, take care of him, okay?” Troy thumped Alexei on the arm. “Or you’ll have the whole Aces team after you.” He laughed. “I’m joking. Kind of.”

 

Alexei wanted to laugh along but he just couldn’t. He had almost forgotten that this whole dating thing was fake, to be honest, too busy texting Kent all the time and skyping his cat and giving him cutesy nicknames— But having Kent’s own friend believe it enough to talk to Alexei about it—

 

He desperately wanted Troy to be right. He wanted to be the one to make Kent happy. He swallowed, heavy feeling in his gut. Troy was looking at him funny; he had to say something.

 

“Yes. Will take care,” he said hoarsely. That wasn’t a lie, at least. Kent would have him as long as he wanted.

 

“Good man.” Troy clapped him on the shoulder cheerfully. “I always thought you seemed like a decent dude. Don’t get mad when we kick your ass tonight, ‘kay?”

 

Alexei couldn’t help but snort. “Need to find puck first, you know. Is little black thing, round.”

 

“Oh fuck you, Mashkov,” Troy said cheerfully. “You chirp your boyfriend like that?”

 

“No, because he good at hockey.”

 

“Fuuuuuck you.” Troy laughed. “You two are perfect for each other. Alright, I’m out. I’d say good game, Mashkov, but, you know.” Troy clapped Alexei on the arm again and walked off, whistling.

 

As soon as Troy turned around, Alexei’s smile dropped and he sighed, shoulders slumping. He went to find the rest of the team.

 

When he caught up to them in the locker room, the only one who seemed to have noticed he was missing was Jack, who zeroed in on his expression as soon as he walked in.  “You okay?” he asked, nudging Alexei with his arm.

 

Alexei smiled at him. “Yes, fine. Thank you, Zimmboni.” He nodded down at the phone in Jack’s hand, choosing the most foolproof way to distract Jack. “You talk to little B? Say hi from me, yes? Ask for pie!”

 

Jack lit up, like he always does whenever his boyfriend is mentioned. “Yeah, he was just telling me about the goal he scored last night, it was on a 2-on-1—”

 

As Jack rambled happily, Alexei couldn’t help but think to himself that he wanted that with Kent, for real.

 

\---

 

They lost the game 3-2 and Jack didn’t meet his eyes once.

 

Tater chirped him the whole time in cat puns, though, so Kent couldn’t find it in himself to be too dramatic about it, as much as he wanted to. God, Alyosha was such a dork. It would be embarrassing, if it wasn’t so hilarious.

 

At one point Alyosha crushed him into the boards and whispered “mweowch,” and Kent just fucking lost it. He barely managed to skate to the bench for his line change, he was laughing so hard. Also, Swoops and Alexei totally exchanged a bro-nod on the ice, which was weird. Kent didn’t think they even knew each other. All in all, it was probably the best game he’d played against the Falconers since Jack had joined them, despite the loss.

 

In the locker room after, the rookies were unquailed, and were starting up the usual rallying cry to go out. Ryan skipped over Kent entirely, though, and started harassing Fisher next to him.

 

“What, you’re not gonna ask me?” Kent asked, amused and a little offended.

 

Ryan just rolled his eyes, the brat. Man, Kent was so much more respectful when he was his age. “Yeah, like you’re gonna come out with us when your boyfriend’s in town. Actually, please don’t. Nobody wants to see you guys having sex on the table.” Kent almost choked on his spit, but did his best to recover.

 

“You guys obviously have poor taste, then,” he said, winking suggestively. He spluttered as he got hit in the face with a towel.

 

“Yo, Parser, hurry it up, eh? Your boyfriend’s waiting,” Santi said, poking his head back into the locker room door.

 

Kent’s heart gave a little startled jump, which was weird. It was just Tater. “All right, I’m coming,” he said, jamming his feet into his shoes and standing up. The whole locker room burst into wolf whistles and cat calls right on cue, like the nasty fuckers they were. Kent ignored them and swanned out regally, chin held high and middle finger raised. The sound of laughter followed him out.

 

Alyosha was waiting in the hall outside, playing on his phone. His hair was wet and dark against his temples, and the cut of his suit showed off his broad shoulders and stupid-long legs. Kent swallowed dryly. Seriously, what was with him today.

 

“Hey, man” he said, lifting one hand abortively and then running it through his hair, feeling oddly nervous.

 

Alyosha looked up and just. Lit up. “ _Kotyonok!”_ He had Kent crushed in a tight embrace before he knew it, toes grazing the ground. Kent could smell his cologne clearly from where his nose was smushed against Alexei’s shoulder. It smelled good, woodsy.

 

“Um, hey. Good game.” He patted Alyosha on the back gingerly.

 

Alexei finally let Kent go. “Yes, was good game. You play very good, too, of course. You always do.”

 

Kent could feel himself flushing a little, which. What the actual hell. He _never_ blushes; he considers it a point of pride. “Damn straight,” he said, lifting his chin. Alyosha just laughed at him.

 

“Is time? You take me to Kit now, yes? I want to meet the princess!”

 

Kent laughed. “Yeah, dude, okay. Let’s go.”

 

Alexei followed Kent to his Lamborghini, then somehow managed to wedge himself inside, cursing at tiny cars and tiny people under his breath. When Kent finally managed to stop laughing, he drove them to his apartment, city lights flashing red, green, and gold in the dark.

 

Kent unlocked his door as Alyosha stood behind him, all but vibrating with excitement. He barely waited for Kent to enter before he was in the apartment and looking around for Kit. He apparently found her in her regular spot on the couch, because Kent could hear cooing and Russian endearments coming from the living room as he tossed his keys in the bowl on the counter and took two Gatorades out of the fridge.

 

When he entered the living room, he saw Alyosha on his knees in front of Kit on the couch, petting Kit so gently he was barely touching her, blissful look on his face. Kit’s eyes were slit and she was watching Alexei in suspicion, but was putting up with it for now. His hand was basically the size of Kit, so he was just using the ends of his fingers. It was really fucking cute, actually, and Kent couldn’t help but smile.

 

“Here, you gotta hydrate.” Kent tried to hand Alexei a Gatorade.

 

“Yes, yes. Put on table, am doing very important thing right now.”

 

Kent rolled his eyes but smiled and did as he was told, setting the Gatorade down and collapsing on the other end of the couch from Kit with a sigh. She immediately uncurled and sauntered over to Kent’s lap like it was her rightful place. Kent couldn’t help but laugh at Alyosha’s sad eyes.

 

“Here, dude, sit down,” he patted the couch next to him. When Alyosha sat down, Kent picked Kit up and transferred her over to Alyosha’s lap. “Here you go.”

 

Alexei held her in his giant hands like she was made of glass, looking awed and thrilled. “So soft,” he whispered. “Kent, quick, take picture before she leave.”

 

Kent obliged, grinning. “You want me to post it?”

 

“Yes, please! This happiest moment of my life, needs to be memorialized.”

 

“There you go with the fucking SAT vocab again. I’m on to you, I hope you know that,” Kent said, pointing his phone at Alyosha sternly, before posting the pic to his Instagram. “I’m captioning it ‘Honored to be in the presence of royalty’ with a crown emoji, ok?”

 

“Okay, sound good.”

 

“There we go, posted.” Kent locked his screen and set his phone down. Silence settled in the room with Alyosha busy petting Kit. It was a little awkward, to be honest. They had only ever actually been in the same room with each other, like, once, for all they texted and skyped. It was a little weird for two people who were “dating.” But now here was, Alexei fucking Mashkov, looking gigantic and sitting next to Kent on his couch, petting his cat.

 

“You okay?” Alexei suddenly asked.

 

“Hmm?”

 

“Your ribs. You get checked hard, yes? Okay?”

 

“Oh!” Kent lifted up his shirt to look at his side. There was a purplish bruise spreading, and it would undoubtedly look pretty nasty in the morning. “Yeah, don’t worry. Just a normal hockey bruise. You hit fucking hard, though, for the record.”

 

Alyosha looked sheepish. “Sorry.”

 

“Don’t apologize, it’s hockey. If I couldn’t take it, I wouldn’t play the game. How about your wrist? I saw you taping it up in the middle of the third, is it okay?”

 

“Yes, just…what’s the word. Little aches?”

 

“Twinges?”

 

“Yes! Twinges. Need to be careful, but is fine.”

 

“Okay, good.”

 

A silence fell again. Well, this wouldn’t fucking do. He was Kent “Vegas, baby” Parson. He could turn any situation into a party, all he needed was the _In The Zone_ album, some edible glitter, and a lot of alcohol. And he had all three in his kitchen.

 

“Wait right here,” he said before shooting up off his seat on the couch. He slammed a bottle of Bacardi and two shot glasses down onto the coffee table. “We’re doing this, Mashkov.”

 

Alyosha raised his eyebrows, looking pleased and intrigued. “Drinking with Russian? You think you can handle this, Parson?”

 

“Babe, I can handle anything you dish out.” He pressed play on his iPhone and “Me Against the Music” started blasting through his surround speakers.

 

Alexei poured the rum into the shot glasses, right to the top. “Have cards? Let’s make this interesting, yes? Snowy taught me fun game.”

 

Kent snorted and opened the drawer of the end table, taking a deck out and slapping it down on the table. “I’m from _Vegas_ , you’re really gonna try to beat me at cards?”

 

Alexei shook the cards out and started shuffling them clumsily. “Go easy on me, okay? Not good gambler like famous Kent Parson.”

 

Kent shrugged modestly. “That’s okay, you’ll learn.”

 

Who knows how long later, Kit had disappeared somewhere and Kent had taken her place, stretched out on Alexei’s lap. “You tricked me,” he accused, muffled because his face was pressed into Alyosha’s stomach.  “You fucking… fleeced me. Snowed me. Hustled me! You’re a hustler,” he slurred.

 

The rumble of Alexei’s laugh vibrated against Kent’s face. “Maybe you just very bad at cards.”

 

“Fuck you,” Kent mumbled. “I’m not bad at anything.”

 

Alexei laughed again.

 

“Stop moving, ‘m sleeping.”

 

“Okay, _kotyonok,_ can sleep in little bit.” All of a sudden, the world swooped and Kent was in the air.

 

“Woah,” he started giggling.

 

“Yes, yes,” Alexei said, patting Kent on the side where he was thrown over Alexei’s shoulder. “Don’t throw up, please _._ ”

 

Alexei gently laid Kent down on his bed and Kent immediately wiggled under the sheets, ignoring his clothes.  Alexei patted him on the leg over the covers. “Okay, _kotyonok,_ good night. Will see you in the morning.”

 

“Noooo,” Kent whined. “Stayyyyyy.”

 

Alexei looked startled. “Stay? Kent—”

 

“Stay, I wanna cuddle.” Kent made grabby hands at Alexei. “Please?” He did his best impression of Kit’s begging eyes. It didn’t seem to work as well as Kit’s look did on him, because Alexei didn’t give in.

 

“You drunk, is not good thing for me to sleep with you tonight. Go to sleep, yes? I will sleep on couch, say goodbye in morning.

 

Horrifyingly, Kent’s eyes filled with tears. “No one ever cuddles with me,” he sniffed.

 

“Oh, _kotyonok,”_ Alexei said, crouching down and pushing a strand of Kent’s hair away from where it had fallen across his face. His hands were as gentle as they were when petting Kit earlier. “Ask me again another time, yes? I promise then I’m stay.”

 

“Promise?”

 

“I promise.”

 

Kent was briefly woken up in the morning, early enough that the light was still cool and dim. “Alyosha?” he mumbled, confused.

 

“Shhh,” a warm voice rumbled softly. “I’m just say goodbye. I have to go to flight. I text you when I land, okay?”

 

“Okay” he muttered. He briefly felt a warm, damp pressure on his forehead, but he was nearly asleep at that point. It was probably just a dream.

 

\---

 

It was a dreary day in early March, and they had flown into the Buffalo airport separately, rented a car and were now driving to Kent’s mom’s place on the outskirts of Rochester.

 

Alexei shifted nervously in his seat and adjusted his collar. “Stop fidgeting, Alyosha” Kent said, slapping absently at Alexei’s hand while keeping his eyes on the road. “You look fine.” Instead of taking his hand back, he seemed to forget about it and let it tangle gently with Alexei’s fingers, resting on his thigh. This did not help Alexei’s nerves one bit.

 

“You sure your family like vodka?”

 

“Dude,” Kent snorted. “If it’s alcoholic, my family likes it. Seriously, stop worrying, it’ll be fine.” He squeezed Alexei’s fingers, and Alexei felt his heart beat double time before going back to normal. Before Alexei could come up with something else to worry about, the car slowed. Kent pulled onto the side of the road in front a normal looking suburban house. From the logjam of cars in the driveway, Alexei guessed that it was Kent’s. It was kind of small and needed a new paint job, but the yard was meticulously maintained and there were bright flowers in pots on the porch. Alexei’s nerves were taken over by keen interest.

 

“This where you grow up?”

 

“Yeah. I tried to buy my mom a new house after I signed my first contract, but she wouldn’t take it. Said this place had always been good enough for her, and she didn’t want to go through the hassle of getting used to somewhere new. Personally, I think it’s the crush she has on the guy who lives around the corner, but you don’t bring that up unless you want to get smacked by the nearest magazine.” Kent’s smile was wry and private as he looked up at his house.

 

“Your dad?” Alexei asked tentatively. Luckily, Kent didn’t seem too upset. He just shrugged.

 

“He split when I was a kid. My sister and I used to go to his place for Thanksgiving and stuff, but that kind of trailed off as we got older.” Alexei squeezed his hand. Kent gave him a small smile. “So yeah. It’s just my mom, my sister, and me. And my whole extended family, of course.”

 

Alexei groaned a little as he remembered and his nerves came back full force. Kent laughed at him. “Stop it, you’ll be fine! They’re gonna love you. Besides,” Kent suddenly stopped meeting Alexei’s eyes, looking down. “It’s not like it matters, right? It’s not like it’s real.”

 

Alexei sucked in a shocked breath. Every time he remembered, it was like he got checked from behind into the boards. “Kent—” Kent looked up at him, eyes wide and looking particularly green in the sunlight. He had the crazy urge to say something, anything. Maybe that he wanted it to be real. He took a deep breath and opened his mouth, not knowing what he would say, when a loud slam made them both jump in their seats.

 

Through the windshield, Alexei could see a young blonde woman with both hands planted on the front of the car. “Stop making kissy faces at each other and get in here!” she shouted at them, grinning.

 

“Shut up, Katie!” Kent finally let go of Alexei’s hand. He threw himself out of the car and attempted to get her in a headlock. Key word being “attempted,” as the young woman’s judicious use of elbows to the gut seemed to be giving Kent some trouble. Alexei would have been worried, if not for the fact that both of them were laughing hysterically.

 

Alexei unfolded himself from the car, snagging the bottle of vodka on the way.

 

“Hi,” the young woman said as she and Kent finally seemed to give up on attacking each other. She extended her hand to Alexei. “I’m Kent’s sister, Katie. You must be the boyfriend.” She was a smaller, slightly younger version of Kent. Her hair was a dirty blonde color instead of Kent’s gold, but she had the same freckles, and the same crazy kaleidoscope eyes.

 

Alexei ducked his head. “Yes. Am Alexei, nice to meet.”

 

She shook his hand enthusiastically.  “Mom won’t shut up about you; she’s so excited to meet you! Kent wouldn’t tell us _anything,_ so just a heads up, she has a lot of questions.”

 

Kent gave a weak smile. “Yeah, sorry about that. We’re trying to keep it private, you know?”

 

Katie rolled her eyes. “Yeah, to the _media._ We’re your family, dipshit, we get to know stuff about your life. Especially because this is the first guy you’ve brought home since Jack.” Alexei didn’t think Katie noticed Kent’s brief flinch, but _he_ did. Alexei rushed to change the subject.

 

“Where I put this?” he asked, brandishing the bottle of vodka. Katie’s eyes lit up as she seemed to notice it for the first time.

 

“Dude, that’s the good stuff! Kent, I love this guy already.” She waved them towards the door and then clattered on ahead up the driveway, calling, “Mom! Kent and his boyfriend are here!”

 

Kent stopped Alexei before he could follow her, with his hand on his arm. “Um, just. Thanks for doing this, okay? She was right when she said that Jack was the only guy I ever brought home. And we weren’t even properly dating. They worry about me, I guess. They’re going to be really happy that you’re here. So, sorry in advance, they can be a bit much. Let me know if you need a break, okay?” Kent was biting his lip, blushing and looking down, and as much as Alexei enjoyed the visual, he didn’t want Kent to feel worried.

 

_“Kotyonok_ ,” Alexei said, grabbing his hand and giving it a firm squeeze. “I’m be best boyfriend ever, don’t worry. And don’t worry about them being ‘too much.’ I’m hockey player. I’m _Russian._ Is not good party until dishes break. Will be fine, I promise. Now come, before your sister come find us again.” He put his hand on the small of Kent’s back and steered him past the cars in the driveway up to the door.

 

Inside, they were met by a wave of sound—voices, clanging cutlery, laughter— as they entered and toed their shoes off into the messy pile that practically covered the entire front hall.

 

“Kenny!” several people shouted at once and Kent just seemed to open up. Chin lifted higher, shoulders straighter, and smile lighting his eyes for once, he shouted back, “Yeah, I’m finally here, you guys can start the party now!”

 

Alexei was introduced in a whirlwind of handshakes, back slaps, and cheerful insults to a crowd of New York accents and Italian last names. Somewhere along the way he had lost Kent in the crowd. Some woman that he was pretty sure was Kent’s cousin was saying “Hockey, huh? Kenny’s a lucky man,” and squeezing his bicep appreciatively, when Kent suddenly appeared behind him. Kent put his hand on Alexei’s hip and leaned into him. “Back off, Marissa,” he said cheerfully. “Get your own pro-hockey player.”

 

“I _would_ , if you ever brought any of your teammates around,” she said, sticking out her tongue.

 

“No chance; I’d actually like them to be alive for playoffs,” he said with a smirk, and then at her shout of laughter tugged Alexei away. “Come on, babe, my mom’s in the kitchen.”

 

Sure enough, Tracey was alone in the kitchen, loading up a tray with deviled eggs. She immediately stopped what she was doing when she saw them come in. “Kent! You guys finally made it! I was beginning to worry your flight was delayed.” When she smiled, she looked just like Kent.

 

“Hi, mom,” Kent said, and hugged her.

 

“Alexei! I’m so glad to finally meet you in person!” She hugged Alexei too, although he had to lean down pretty far for her to reach.

 

“Hi, Tracey,” Alexei said, suddenly bashful for some reason. “Food looks good.”

 

“Thank you, sweetheart!” she beamed. “Here, take a plate.” She slapped Kent’s hand away as he went for an egg half and started loading up a plate for Alexei, ignoring Kent’s pout. Alexei laughed.

 

“Cute,” he said, placing a thumb on Kent’s bottom lip. He popped an egg half into Kent’s suddenly slack mouth. Kent blinked and swallowed, cheeks red.  Kent’s mom cooed. When Kent saw the gigantic smile on his mom’s face he blushed harder and looked away.

 

“Alexei,” Tracey lowered her voice and said sincerely. “Really, I’m very happy to meet you. I— After what happened with that Jack boy I worried about Kent so much.” She blinked hard, misty-eyed. “He was so hurt, and I think Kent felt like that ruined him for love forever, or something. I knew that wasn’t true, of course, but I worried that Kent had given up on love entirely. He seems so happy with you, though, and I’m so grateful for it. _Thank you._ Take care of him for me, okay?”

 

Alexei looked over at Kent, who was inarticulately moaning and had covered his bright red face with both hands. He couldn’t help the leap of fondness in his chest or the way his mouth curved into a smile. He turned back to Tracey. “Of course. I will take care of Kent as long as he let me. And,” he did his best to impress this with all the sincerity he felt. “ _I’m_ lucky one. Thank you.”

 

“ _Okay,”_ Kent broke in, still bright red. “You guys, stop, Jesus Christ. C’mon, Alyosha, we’re going to my room,” he said, grabbing Alexei’s hand and tugging him away.

 

“Leave the door open!” Tracey called after them and when Kent groaned, she laughed and said, “Just kidding, I just always wanted to say that. Don’t worry, I’m under no illusions that you boys don’t—”

 

“Mo-om!” Kent groaned louder, ears bright red, and dragged a laughing Alexei away.

 

Kent’s bedroom was at the end of the hallway upstairs. Kent and Alexei stepped inside and Kent shut the door behind them, muffling the noise of the Ricoletti family gathering to a dull roar.  Alexei looked around eagerly.

 

As one would probably expect, hockey posters covered the walls— Mario Lemieux, Bobby Orr, Bad Bob Zimmerman. There were a lot of pictures, too, taped onto the walls with peeling scotch tape, of smiling groups of teenage boys in hockey jerseys posing on the ice. There were a lot of pictures of… Jack. Jack, looking young and softer-featured, but still clearly the Jack Zimmerman that Alexei saw on a daily basis. Kent and Jack in their Rimouski jerseys, arms around each other and squinting into the camera, Kent and Jack holding matching trophies and grinning proudly, and a few non-hockey related pictures too. One was clearly a selfie, Kent and Jack laying back on a bedspread, heads touching, and Jack reaching up to take the picture. Jack was looking straight up into the camera, but Kent was looking at Jack. The look in teenage Kent’s eyes— oh. Alexei felt a sinking feeling in his gut. He knew going in that there had been something between them, but he didn’t know Kent was in _love._

 

Alexei turned to look at Kent, who was sitting on the edge of his bed and quietly watching him with a strange look on his face, bitter and sad and nostalgic all at once. “You and Jack—” Alexei started, but didn’t know how to finish. Kent let out a deep sigh and scooted back until his back hit the headboard. “I told you we have history,” he said.

 

Alexei tentatively joined him on the bed. He leaned back onto the headboard next to Kent, their shoulders brushing. He wanted to put his arm around him but he wasn’t sure— but Kent sighed again and all the energy seemed to leave his body. He sagged down, leaning into Alexei, which was as clear a sign as Alexei was ever going to get, so he wrapped his arm around Kent’s shoulders and pulled him in close. “You use to be good friends but now never talk,” he said softly. “What happen?”  


Kent was silent for so long that Alexei thought he wasn’t going to answer. He finally said, “He was my first best friend. Like, I had other friends before of course, but he was something special, you know? We clicked right away and man, we played such good hockey.

 

“He was— we spent all our time together with hockey and school and being roommates on roadies and hanging out at our billet families’ places, and that was about when I started figuring out I was into guys. It was so easy to get wrapped up in each other, until all I could see was him. I loved him,” Kent admitted.

 

“What happen?” Alexei asked softly.

 

“Jack always struggled with, like, mental health stuff. There was a lot of pressure on him. He took pills for it. I didn’t really get it, you know? I was a stupid, cocky kid just thinking of the future, when we would go first and second in the draft and kick ass in the NHL. We were partying all the time, and I probably pushed him into it more than I should. I should have realized he needed help.” Kent stopped and took a deep breath, hands pressed tightly to his eyes. Alexei squeezed Kent’s shoulder, trying to comfort him as best as he could.

 

“Then…well, everyone knows what happened at the draft,” Kent continued raggedly. “I found him on the floor of our bathroom. The pills were… in the movies, the pills are always scattered all over the floor like the person dropped it when they fell, but it wasn’t like that. The cap was screwed on tightly and the bottle was sitting perfectly upright on the bathroom counter. It was so _deliberate,_ you know?” Kent was shaking.

 

“Shhhh, _kotyonok_.” Alexei pulled Kent into him as tight as he could, burying his face in Kent’s hair. “It’s okay, don’t have to say more.”

 

It was like Kent didn’t hear him. “I called 9-1-1; I didn’t know what to do. They wouldn’t let me ride in the ambulance with him, so I took a cab to the hospital. I waited in the emergency room for hours and they wouldn’t let anyone in, I thought” He choked and took in a gasping breath.

 

“And then I had to go and get drafted the next day, walk across the stage first when it should have been Jack like nothing happened. And I tried to call him but his phone was off and the hospital wouldn’t let me through. I kept trying to call him, but it would always go to voicemail and I kept thinking, ‘well, when he gets out of the hospital,’ ‘well, now he’s in rehab so he can’t talk but later—’ It took me like six months to take the hint. He was just done with me, like nothing happened, like I didn’t even matter.”

 

All Alexei could do was hold Kent as tightly as he could. Kent was making little choked noises and shaking, face buried in Alexei’s chest. “Shhhh, _kotyonok_ , you’re okay,” Alexei said, gently rocking them back and forth. “Don’t have to say more, is okay.”

 

After a few long moments, Kent took a shuddery breath and sat up. His eyes were red, but dry. He looked more frustrated than anything else. “Ugh, sorry,” he said, scrubbing at his eyes with the heels of his hands. “I don’t know why this still fucks me up, it’s been years. It’s fine, I’m fine.”

 

“Don’t have to be fine,” Alexei said, heart heavy. It was clear that Kent was still in love with Jack. That didn’t matter, though. Alexei didn’t have any claim to him. He was Kent’s friend, and goddammit he would act like one. Kent didn’t need him hitting on him or taking advantage of this fake-dating situation to ask him out for real.  He needed support. He gave Kent one more tight, spontaneous hug.

 

Kent laughed a little and patted him on the back. “I’m okay, buddy, thanks,” he said, muffled from where his face was smushed into Alexei’s shoulder. “Sorry for unloading all that on you; you don’t need that shit.”

 

“Want it,” Alexei said firmly.  “We friends, yes? Can tell me anything.”

 

“Yeah, Alyosha.” Kent’s smile was softer than usual. “I know.” His eyes focused on something over Alexei’s shoulder, then he turned back to him and said, “Hey, you want to take a picture with me? Here.” He pulled Alexei in close, and took out his phone.

 

It was a nice picture, but Alexei felt bittersweet about it. His eyes couldn’t help but be drawn to the picture of the younger Jack and Kent on the wall, the one that must have given Kent the idea for a selfie in the first place. This picture seemed to match it perfectly, but instead of Jack looking at the camera and Kent looking at Jack with love in his eyes, it was Alexei staring longingly at Kent while Kent looked directly into the camera.  Anyone could see what his feelings were. It was like some kind of twisted mirror, and now Alexei was the one who was about to get his heart broken. Still, seeing them lying there with their heads so close they were almost touching, and Kent smiling—

 

Alexei knew the whole point of this thing with Kent was to look like they were in a relationship to other people, so he should probably post the picture to Twitter or Instagram. He hesitated, though. He just wanted this one thing for himself. Soon Kent would realize that he didn’t need Alexei, or he would meet someone else that he wanted to date for real, and they would go back to the way they were before: separate teams, opposite ends of the country, only seeing each other when they played. Alexei could have this one picture, couldn’t he? Quickly, before he could change his mind, he sent the photo to himself.  

 

“You okay there?”

 

Alexei looked up to see Kent smiling down at him amusedly. “Yes, sorry!” Alexei handed the phone back to Kent.  

 

“Okay, good. I don’t know about you but talking about that kind of deep shit makes me hungry. C’mon, let’s go eat. Besides, we better hurry so we have time before the poker game starts. Hope you brought a lot of money, Grandma’s a real shark.”

 

“Kent,” Alexei said seriously, standing up and taking Kent by both shoulders. “Your family is amazing.”

 

Kent burst into surprised laughter. “Good! I hope you still feel that way after you lose all your money tonight. C’mon, let’s go.” He took Alexei’s hand again, easily like he wasn’t even thinking about it, hand callused and warm. Alexei’s heart skipped a beat. He was going to miss this, so much.

 

\---

 

The Aces played the Falconers one more time before the playoffs. Despite seeing Alyosha only a month ago, at his family reunion that had turned into a massively embarrassing feelings-overshare, Kent was weirdly excited. Like, not quite Britney-concert excited, but definitely reaching-the-playoffs excited. Alyosha was going to meet him after the game and show him around Providence a little before Kent’s team’s curfew, so Kent waited outside the Falconers locker room and fiddled with his phone.

 

“Kent.”

 

Kent looked up, already starting to grin before he saw that it wasn’t Alexei. His heart lurched and did its best to crawl up his throat. Jack was standing there, with a look on his face that was halfway between a frown and, like, indigestion. “Zimms? I mean, Jack? Um. What do you want?”

 

“Are you waiting for Tater?”

 

“…yeah?”

 

“You should get dinner with us. I mean, you and Tater should get dinner with me and my boyfriend.”

 

Kent felt his eyebrows practically try to climb off his face. This is the first he’d heard of any such boyfriend. Surprisingly, though, the devastation he expected to feel…didn’t come. He mainly felt dread at the horrible awkwardness that dinner would entail. He’d rather eat a live octopus, thanks. He was just opening his mouth to come up with an excuse when he was engulfed from behind.

 

“ _Kotyonok!”_ Alyosha’s arms circled his waist and squeezed, lifting him off his feet a few inches. “You waited!”

 

“Said I would,” he reminded him, turning to look at him as best he could. “Good game, babe.” Absently, he straightened Alyosha’s gold chain and tucked it back under his collar. Alyosha hummed, pleased. He caught Kent’s hand and gently squeezed it.

 

“You too! Starving now, we go eat?”

 

Jack cleared his throat and interrupted. “Um. Bitty and I were wondering if you guys would like to get dinner with us?”

 

Alyosha paused, looking at Jack searchingly before breaking out into a huge smile. “Yes! That would be very good! Unless—” here he hesitated and said softly, for Kent’s ears only, “Kent, you are okay with this?”

 

And what was Kent supposed to say to that? Alyosha and Jack’s relationship had been pretty strained lately, what with the lying and with Jack keeping his distance every time Alexei brought up Kent. It’s not like he wanted to ruin Alexei and Jack’s friendship even further, so he pasted his best media smile on and said, “Sure, sounds great!”

 

They ended up at a cozy, dimly lit restaurant on the waterfront. Kent would have thought it was too trendy for Jack’s tastes, but maybe it was due to the influence of the boyfriend, who sat across from them in the booth with Jack’s arm around him. He was tiny, blonde, and looked like just the type of person who would love a place like this. He probably made his own lemonade and served it in mason jars, too.

 

“So, I don’t know if you remember this, but we’ve actually met before,” the boyfriend— _Bitty,_ apparently, which was just as sickeningly adorable as the man himself was— said to Kent. “At the kegster you, er, stopped by?” He was polite, but clearly wary.  Good, the feeling was mutual.

 

Kent vaguely remembered meeting him, but by the way he’d tried to block out as much of that night from his memory as possible, he wasn’t surprised that he didn’t remember more. “Um, yeah,” Kent said awkwardly. He fiddled with his straw and prayed desperately for either the waiter to interrupt or for a giant meteorite to hit the Earth, whichever came first. Jack was silent, just staring at him.

 

Kent was reminded of Alexei’s presence when he dropped a heavy, solid arm around Kent’s shoulders, and he couldn’t help but relax just a little.

 

“Bring me pies, B?” Alyosha asked cheerfully.

 

“Sure did!” Blondie perked right up and started digging in the bag he brought. “I’ve got pecan and cherry. Sorry, Kent, I didn’t know what kind you liked.”

 

Kent blinked. “Um, I’m not really a pie person?” There was a freezing silence that Alexei cheerfully bulldozed right over.

 

“You will when try B’s pies! They best.”

 

“Awww, thanks hun.” Eric beamed at Alyosha. “Big-E best pie winner three years runnin,’ if I do say so myself.”

 

Alyosha ooohed appreciatively. Jack looked proud and smug. What kind of alternate reality had he fallen into??

 

Kent was just opening his mouth to say something undoubtedly assholish, when, luckily, Jack spoke first. “I think I owe you an apology, Kent.”

 

Kent blinked. That…was not something he had expected from tonight. “Huh?”

 

Jack hadn’t met his eyes in so long that Kent had forgotten how intense his eye contact could be. “I admit, at first I thought this thing with Tater was a joke, or just to get at me somehow, but I was wrong. I see now how much you guys love each other, and how happy you are. I’m glad. Maybe it’s time we left the past in the past. I’d like it if we could be friends again.”

 

Kent froze. He felt like he couldn’t breathe. This was… If you had asked Kent six months ago, before this whole fake dating thing with Alyosha began, he would’ve answered that this was all he ever wanted: Jack to forgive him and to want to be friends again, Jack to want Kent to be a part of _life—_ but. But Jack thought Kent and Alexei were in love. He had no idea that Kent had been lying to him this entire time.

 

Kent abruptly felt the urge to be sick. He could just smile and agree, and have Jack in his life again. The only problem would be that the whole thing would be built on a lie.

 

Or. Or Kent could tell Jack the truth. He could tell him that he was a fucked-up piece of shit that _made up a fake boyfriend and lied about it_ all because he couldn’t get over his ex from eight years ago. Jack would, understandably, go back to hating him and probably never give him another chance again, and what would that do to Jack and Alyosha’s relationship? Would he ruin that too?

 

Alyosha’s arm around his shoulders suddenly felt like an anchor instead of a comforting weight.  Distantly, Kent could feel that he was starting to breathe shallowly, but that was the least of his concerns.

 

Alyosha. He hadn’t even thought about Alyosha.  If he told Jack the truth, then there would be no need for this charade anymore, and he and Alyosha could stop whatever the hell it was that they were doing. If there wasn’t the excuse of a fake relationship, would they even talk anymore? Or would they go back to the way they were before, only seeing each other on the ice? It was probably a good thing; Alyosha could be free to date someone for real, someone who wasn’t too fucked up to have a real relationship, and he wouldn’t have to deal with all of Kent’s problems anymore.

 

Dimly, he heard voices ask in increasing concern, “Kent?” “ _Kotyonok?”_ but he ignored them.

 

If he told the truth, Alyosha would be gone from his life.

 

But if he didn’t, he’d be lying to Jack, and Bitty, and everyone else, and— and he just couldn’t. He couldn’t do that anymore. They deserved better than that. Alyosha deserved better than that.

 

“ _Kotyonok_ , you okay—”

 

“We’re not dating.”

 

There was a pause, everyone sitting frozen in a tableau. Jack and Eric looked confused, Jack’s eyebrows furrowed and Eric’s mouth open in a little ‘o.’ “What?” Jack said.

 

“Kent,” Alexei murmured urgently in his ear. “What you doing—”

 

“We’re not dating. It was all fake; we were lying from the beginning,” Kent burst out in a rush before he could think better of it. He couldn’t look at anyone anymore, and just stared down at his empty place setting. He blinked rapidly to clear his vision. “I’m so sorry, Jack. And Alyosha— you were great. I’m so, so sorry, this was all my fault. Don’t blame Alyosha, it was— it was all me.” He practically threw himself out of the booth, knee whacking painfully on the table and juddering all the place settings. He had to get out of there.

 

“Kent!” Alyosha dove after him, but, just like on the ice, Kent was too fast. By the time Alyosha untangled his long limbs from the booth, Kent was out the door.

 

Kent didn’t get very far. He came to a stop in front of a dock partway down the waterfront, mainly because he couldn’t see past his blurry vision to go any further. It was a clear night, chilly as a night in April in New England could be. A few people were wandering by, so Kent turned his face away from the streetlights, towards the ocean.

 

Oh fuck, oh shit, he couldn’t believe he did that. With one move he had just torpedoed the best thing in his life besides hockey. Kent pushed the palms of his hands against his eyes until they burned, and forced himself to take in a deep, shuddering breath. He hoped to god no passersby recognized him.

 

The worst part was— Kent started laughing a little through the tears, because this was just ridiculous— the worst part wasn’t that he had just blown what was probably his last chance to have Jack in his life. The worst part was that he wouldn’t have Alexei’s texts to look forward to at the end of practice anymore. He wouldn’t have _Alexei_ anymore. What the shit? What was wrong with him?

 

“Kent?”

 

Kent flinched backward, bringing his hands down. Of course, it was Alexei, looking wild-eyed and pale, panting slightly, like he had just been running. Kent wiped at his eyes fiercely.

 

“Alexei.” He didn’t know what else to say. Sorry he was a colossal fuck up? “Sorry—”

 

“Shhhh.” Alexei stepped forward and carefully cupped Kent’s wet face in his hands. His hands were warm compared to the chill air. “ _Kotyonok_ ,” he said softly. “What’s wrong?”

 

Kent heaved in a sobbing breath. “Everything?” he quavered with a little laugh. “This is all my fault, I’m so sorry I dragged you into this.”

 

“Shush,” Alexei said sternly. “Was my idea, remember? If anyone’s fault, is mine. But that not explain why you tell them truth. Or why you’re crying. What happen, _kotyonok?”_

 

Kent wanted to pull away from the fierceness of Alexei’s expression, but he didn’t think he could. And honestly, he wanted to savor the touch just a little; it was probably the last. Instead, he closed his eyes, tears still running down his face to meet Alexei’s hands.

 

“I didn’t want to lie anymore.” He said it softly, pressing it into the night like a secret. “I didn’t want to be the same person I once was, and I didn’t want to lie to Jack. And,” Kent had to open his eyes for this. He met Alexei’s brown eyes with as much sincerity as he could muster. “I didn’t want to lie about you. You deserve better.

 

“I had to do it. Even if,” he took a deep breath and squeezed his eyelids shut tight, as if it would stop the tears. “Even if it means I didn’t get to see you anymore.”

 

Alexei was silent for a long, long moment. Finally, he said softly. “Look at me, _kotyonok.”_

 

Kent kept his eyes firmly shut.

 

“ _Kotyonok._ Please?”

 

Alexei looked— well, Kent didn’t know how he looked. Terrified and hopeful and worried and who knows what else. “Why you think I stop seeing you?” he asked gently.

 

Kent sniffed. “Well, you won’t have to, right? Now that this fake relationship thing is over with, we don’t have to pretend for our teams anymore. Why would you keep talking to me?”

 

There was a frozen silence, then Alexei burst out, “Because I like you!” Alexei finally let go of his face in order to gesture vehemently. “You think this is fake for me? You think I text all the time and send pictures of breakfast and skype cat because is all fake? I’m think when this is over you want stop talking to me!”

 

“What? No, are you kidding me? You’re the best thing I’ve got going on in my life, I don’t want you to ever stop talking to me!” Kent blinked, stunned. “Oh shit. I’m in love with you.”

 

Alexei froze. “What?”

 

Kent felt like he’d been playing with a concussion all season, and had abruptly, finally, seen the ice with a clear head again. “I’m in love with you,” he said slowly, wondrously. “Oh, fuck me.” Kent started laughing, tilting his head up towards the sky. “I’m in love with you!”

 

“Say again.” Suddenly Alexei was there, right up in his space and hands reaching toward Kent, but not quite daring to touch. His eyes were wide and desperate, searching Kent’s face for something that Kent could only guess at. Kent reached out and pulled Alexei’s hand to cup his face, leaving his hand firm around Alexei’s. He grinned up at him. “I am in love with you, Alexei Mashkov.”

 

Now, Alexei was tearing up a little. “Told you, call me Alyosha,” he said roughly, before bending down and kissing Kent square on the mouth.

 

It was a little wet and messy, what with the tears on both sides, but it was still the best damn kiss of Kent’s life.

 

When they finally pulled away, Kent feeling a little starry-eyed, not gonna lie, they were both startled out of their prolonged eye contact by a little cough. Kent looked up to see Eric and Jack there, holding takeout bags from the restaurant and positively beaming at them. Well, Jack just had a slight smile, but that was beaming for him.

 

“Well!” Eric said cheerily. “I’m not sure what that back in the restaurant was all about, but I’m glad y’all worked it out. Let’s go back to our place and finally eat something, okay? I didn’t play a game tonight, and _I’m_ starving.”

 

Kent shot a quick glance at Jack, who didn’t look like he was back to hating Kent or anything, but was just smiling down at his boyfriend indulgently. “Um, okay?”

 

“Good, I want to eat pies,” Alyosha said and grabbed Kent’s hand, as naturally as if they’d been dating for months. Which, Kent guessed they had been. They followed Jack and Eric, together.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I occasionally write fic on my [tumblr](http://dexinasnapback.tumblr.com/) too if you want to check it out or say hi!


End file.
